Italian Tuneups: What's the longest you've run your engine at high RPM?

[1 SX]

I get concerned re ring ridge... When an engine is not regularly spun-up, the max travel of the pistons and specifically piston rings is not as high (or as low) along the respective cylinder bores
.. and when you DO spin it up, the rings can crack... when hitting the ridge. At least that's the theory. Not sure though that a moderately worn engine actually generates much of a ridge in any case...

On my Elantra, it was owned for 10 years by an elderly woman who never drove it hard.. first thing I did was put 91 non ethanol with 8oz of mmo in the tank and let er rip.
It did not burn a drop oil and it ran way better after multiple 6150 redline shifts. Now on the daily it might see 5000 just to accelerate up to speed, and on ramps on the thruway are full redline shifts up to merging speed. Every day that passes it wakes up more and more as I continued the 91 non ethanol with mmo in tank, plus did a ton of maintenance such as a 3x3 transmission service, spark plugs , wires, air filter, brakes and rotors, uhp tires and a lot more.
I believe if you take care of your car and keep up on fluid changes and mechanical issues a redline here or there is good/beneficial for it.
To note I’ve driven other cars that just felt “slow” and the throttle had no feedback because the owners never open them up so the computer adjusts to that type of driving yet after I drive it then give the car back they tell me how much better the car drives and how much better the pick up is.

 

[jagdriver727]

I once ran a 1971 Javelin with the 360 at 4500 rpm/30 mph for 15 miles. Limping home stuck in first gear. Redline for that engine is about 5000-5500 rpm.

Seemed like a lot but then again, same car running 75-80 mph in high gear will have you at about the same rpm, so it’s all relative.

 

[gregk24]

No need when new, but when it gets some miles on it I'll drop the Jetta down in 4th (3500-4000 rpm at speed) and leave it there for 20 - 30 minutes or so on the interstate. Even VW has recommended this to help curb carbon deposits.

 

[dishdude]

No need when new, but when it gets some miles on it I'll drop the Jetta down in 4th (3500-4000 rpm at speed) and leave it there for 20 - 30 minutes or so on the interstate. Even VW has recommended this to help curb carbon deposits.

That doesn't sound like a very good idea to me...

 

[gregk24]

That doesn't sound like a very good idea to me...

Why? 4000 RPM isn't all that high, especially when at operating temp.

It is nothing I have practiced on our new ones, but our previous Jetta with over 60K got that treatment maybe once or twice a year. That is hardly "beating on the car".

 

[dishdude]

Why? 4000 RPM isn't all that high, especially when at operating temp.

It is nothing I have practiced on our new ones, but our previous Jetta with over 60K got that treatment maybe once or twice a year. That is hardly "beating on the car".

I don't think it will harm the engine, or burn any carbon off. My concern would be heating up the transmission. Just seems unnecessary and a waste of fuel at best, harmful to the transmission at worst.

 

[bunnspecial]

An MGB without overdrive is turning 4000rpms in 4th gear at 70mph. It's closer to 4500 at 80mph. I've driven plenty of distances-before I had an overdrive-keeping between those speeds. Even with OD, hitting and sustaining 4000rpms isn't a big deal to me.

 

[antonmnster]

Drove my automatic 3 speed non lockup Saab 900 to the west coast. 75 mph was about 3800 rpm. Balanced but annoying.

 

[Cujet]

2.5L V6 Jaguar X-Type, 5 speed manual. It’s so underpowered, full throttle and hard rev-limiter shifts at high high rpm are often necessary. Well North of 200k miles and no oil consumption or engine failures yet. I do maintain it well. The car is falling apart, but that jewel of an engine rocks on.

Without admitting to anything, the car has a limit in 5th gear that does not exist in 4th. So 4th will easily hit the rev limiter while 5th hits some other form of velocity limiter.... Takes a very special place and a whole lot of time to find those limits.

 

[tvaughn]

My 525i on a long roadtrip with no other cars around I had it parked around 5-5.5k rpms for a few hours, smooth as butter and still decent mpg. Having spent time on the Autobahn in Germany this style of driving is quite normal.

 

[FowVay]

My 525i on a long roadtrip with no other cars around I had it parked around 5-5.5k rpms for a few hours, smooth as butter and still decent mpg. Having spent time on the Autobahn in Germany this style of driving is quite normal.

I had a very similar experience. I had a 5-series "mietwagen" that I had used to conduct business in Austria. I had to catch a flight from the Munich airport at 10am and I was still in Salzburg so it was going to be a white knuckle run all the way in. I emptied the fuel tank in that rental car by the time I got to the airport and I didn't have time to refuel so I turned it in empty. If memory serves, the rental agency charged me more to refuel the car than I paid for the entire 3 day rental.

It wasn't in Italy and I wasn't tuning anything up but I am certain that the header on that BMW had a nice orange glow to it for my hour long commute.

 

[ChristianReske]

After a long time of Stop- and Go traffic in the City, i do a Italian tune up to my winter beater, VW Golf MK III:
Hit the autobahn and beat the hell out of it. 5.000 RPM +, full throttle. It works. Really.
No need to worry, the engines stand this. For example, Munich-Nuremberg: 100 Miles and most of the time above 4.500 RPM. Absolutely no problem.

Saying this, i am 100% sure that my Honda S2000 has one of few engines that cant stand this because of the insane piston speed. The engine is in rsik of damage if you go max speed for more than a few minutes.

But 99% of all cars built and sold for the European market or just modern cars shouldn´t have a problem with this.

 

[FowVay]

Christian, on my last visit to Munich I rode the ICE from the Hbf up to Ingolstadt to check out the Audi factory and then up to Nuremburg for dinner. I believe the train was traveling faster than the automobiles on the autobahn as I sat there sipping my Erdinger Weißbier and looking out the window at the passing cars. I can't wait for the all of the borders to open and the mandates to pass. I hope the new Chancellor turns out to be a good one.

 

[ChristianReske]

Thanks. I was travelling often at night or in the morning, with much less traffic. "Pedal to the metall". The Autobahn Munich-Nuremberg has often very dense traffic at daytime. The ICE could go up to 300 Km/h on certain stretches. I guess yours was going with 200 Km/h? Hope you liked your travel?

Oh, our new government.. i think we will get a speed limit here, finally. "Oh, the enviroment! Oh, it´s sooo dangerous!" 30 years of "green" propaganda works. And our (maybe) new Chancellor.... *Facepalm*

Lets get back to the topic.. dont get to political. Better for my blood pressure too.

 

[Dennywires]

When I returned my lease Tacoma I drove 12 miles red lined in 4wd low..

 

[RDY4WAR]

2007 Focus, turbocharged, and ran 6000-7500 rpm around Shenandoah Circuit for about 45 minutes.

 

[walterjay]

When I returned my lease Tacoma I drove 12 miles red lined in 4wd low..

That will keep it clean for the person who buys it off lease.

 

[Mitsu_Joe]

With the Galant:
Longest fast trip has been Hamburg - Berlin - Salzburg at night (~600 miles).
Whenever possible, pedal to the metal…
However, due to the relatively tall gearing its only turning at around ~4500rpm at top speed.


I’ve also raced the engine on some mountain passes staying between 5000 and 7000rpm (Factory Redline starts at 6000rpm).
Roughly 3 passes, each 20-30 minutes.

Took it like a champ, ran slightly better afterwards. Wouldnt necessarily repeat it.

 

[Trav]

Thanks. I was travelling often at night or in the morning, with much less traffic. "Pedal to the metall". The Autobahn Munich-Nuremberg has often very dense traffic at daytime. The ICE could go up to 300 Km/h on certain stretches. I guess yours was going with 200 Km/h? Hope you liked your travel?

Oh, our new government.. i think we will get a speed limit here, finally. "Oh, the enviroment! Oh, it´s sooo dangerous!" 30 years of "green" propaganda works. And our (maybe) new Chancellor.... *Facepalm*

Lets get back to the topic.. dont get to political. Better for my blood pressure too.

I used to go the other direction Nuremberg-Munich some weekends to party in Schwabing, great party area at least it was. The A9 was good until you hit Ingolstadt with the hills and cameras.

 

[Kiwi_ME]

Hmm, our '80 Mercedes 280 during a quiet morning on the Heilbronn to Regensdorf autobahn, foot to the floor with the manual 4-speed in top gear, around 6600 rpm for about 30 minutes to see what the fuel consumption was reading on the MPG device I had built which used a small turbine flow meter. And it was bad, I recall around 10 MPG (imperial).

But I worked in the engine test industry and seeing engines in test cells running for hours at full tilt was common.